In Crooker v. U.S. Department of Treasury, 213 U.S. App. D.C. 376, 663 F.2d 140 (D.C. Cir. 1980) (per curiam), the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit carefully outlined what is necessary for a pro se plaintiff to "substantially prevail" on the merits sufficient enough to justify an award of attorney's fees:

in order to "substantially prevail" a complainant in an [sic] FOIA suit need not necessarily obtain a court order forcing the agency to disclose the documents sought, Nationwide Building Maintenance v. Sampson, 182 U.S. App. D.C. 83, 89, 559 F.2d 704, 710 (1977). The government cannot foreclose an award of attorney's fees by releasing the documents during the pendency of the action, Cuneo v. Rumsfeld, 180 U.S. App. D.C. 184, 198, 553 F.2d 1360, 1365 (1977). "But it is equally true that an allegedly prevailing complainant must assert something more than post hoc, ergo propter hoc. . . . If rather than the threat of an adverse court order either a lack of actual notice of a request or an avoidable delay accompanied by due diligence in the administrative processes was the actual reason for the agency's failure to respond to the request, then it cannot be said that the complainant substantially prevailed in his suit." Cox. v. Dept. of Justice, 195 U.S. App. D.C. 189, 194, 601 F.2d 1, 6 (1979) (per curiam) (citation omitted).

Id. at 141-42. The court in Cox v. U.S. Department of Justice, 195 U.S. App. D.C. 189, 601 F.2d 1 (D.C. Cir. 1979), further noted that, "the party seeking such fees in the absence of a Court order must show that the prosecution of the action could reasonably be regarded as necessary to obtain the information." Cox v. U.S. Department of Justice, 601 F.2d at 6.

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